i wish them growing crowds and continued success.

This doesn't mean you're going to miss Arsenal v. Sp*rs this weekend, does it?

At least they are doing something. I think OccupyWallStreet is long overdue. The wealth divide in this country is disgusting. It's scary out here and yet we are told that we have to bail out the 'Banksters'.

When do we get a bailout?

Zuccotti, not Zucotti.

his name is Rich Uncle Pennybags (Pennybags doesn't sound very rich).

I heart Wall Street protesters!

@4: True! Shall fix.

I am loving the bejabbers out of these dispatches, Mr. Haynes. Thank you.

I just wish these protests weren't so lousy with 9/11 troofers, Paultards, living embodiments of internet memes and others whose grasp on reality is tenuous at best. And in the best liberal tradition these folks are often given ample time to speak and since crazy often equals loud, they tend to dominate. Say what you will about the teabaggers, but one of the reasons they've been successful is that they don't look like a bunch of college kids and crazies who you expect to be doing shit like this.

@3 Too be fair Obama has implemented and proposed a number of thing that are basically bailouts for average people like the payroll tax holiday and extending unemployment benefits. And unlike what's going to the banks, these are not loans or asset purchases, but outright grants. Should be more, but there is at least something.

I have a hard time believing this smug fuck is worth a shit as a comedian.

@9, are you fucking kidding me?

The teabaggers don't look like this because they are funded by billionaires via front groups like Americans For Prosperity and Freedom Works. They represent the interests of Corporate America, and are comprised of rich people.

If you think that teabaggers actually come across well, you obviously have never seen any photos of their rallies with misspelled signs, and similarly batshit sentiments of their own, like secret mooslims and government death panels.

The teabaggers' media presence, handled by PR front groups, is slick, professional, and managed by people who understand how to use the media to manipulate public opinion.

Deriding the Wall St. protestors for a lack of polish is insulting. At least they are trying to do something to call attention to this bullshit, and without massive amounts of corporate cash backing them.

@10, I rather agree: he sounds like some smug UW frat boy type with his level of humor. His first piece I rather enjoyed but like most frat boys the second time around I just want my money back.

@9, the mentality of these protesters is indistinguishable from troofers. Paranoia and conspiracy theories abound. The girl's argument -- "he's not one of us" therefore "he's a Wall Street guy" is a classic example. These people have no freaking idea what they want or what they are doing. I am sympathetic with their complaint at its vaguest -- income inequality, Wall Street vultures, etc. -- but when you look them in the eye you don't see anything. How this protest addresses the wealth divide I can't see at all.

thank you, mr haynes! wish i could be there..

This is why I want nothing to do with major protests in this day. A majority of the people who have the time (i.e. lazy students or unemployed) to sit around a park and chant all day are just as uninformed as the teabagger idiots who protest taxes on public streets. The Iraq war protests here in Seattle and pretty much anywhere were all embarrassments after one or two good initial runs.

Hell, a lot of the Vietnam protests were full of mumbling hippie idiots living in parks too, but they at least managed to get out a strong and consistent message.

Any slog post that works in a Network reference has my heart. Thanks for writing these!

For those of you complaining about how crazy the protesters are, there are just as many protesters complaining about stupid armchair activists and how nothing is going to change unless more people get out in the streets. Considering the way things are going they may be right.

tl;dr

More! More!

@16 nothing is going to change from protests. Period. Go ahead and protest if you want to, but it's not going to change shit. Not for this.

Any chance our intrepid comedian will make it on the day the unions may or may not be showing up? That may be a sight worth seeing. And maybe a better shot of who's coming to the general rallies, not necessarily who's able to stay there overnight. Enjoying the write-ups, thanks!

Less is more, dude. This isn't the New Yorker.

Who the fuck is Andy Haynes and why should he get to put 1400 really bad words up on Slog?

Why do I get the feeling that these posts are already fodder for a terrible screwball-comedy- love-story?

We should have something like that here. Is there a stock exchange in Seattle somewhere?

the "stinky hippie" saw gets very very old very very quickly in my book.

@13 so Fnarf what are YOU doing to address the "wealth divide?" Besides pontificating on Slog, Metafilter, and probably a half dozen other choir rooms.